Listening Post

EMA’s new track ‘Aryan Nation’ is partly inspired by This Is England

Since Erika M. Anderson (or EMA) released industrial grunge winner ‘The Future’s Void’ (seemingly a prescient title) in 2014 she’s been holed up in an untrendy neighbourhood of Portland making a new album called ‘Exile In The Outer Ring’. It’s been announced today that it will be out via City Slang on August 25th.

News of that comes with this lead-off track ‘Aryan Nation’ – the title is meant to be provocative, as has been the case with everything Anderson has done so far.

You can probably guess where EMA is coming from on this one, and what side of the fence she’s on. America is in turmoil, and as a young woman who grew up in the Midwest (South Dekota) she’s always seen the real American that most of us traveling there to the east and west coasts on holidays don’t.

‘Aryan Nation’ is EMA’s plea to her fellow Americans to not allow the current economical situation and stresses caused by it to warp their view of others, or point a wicked finger of blame. As she says:

“This is for my people in the middle country. I don’t look down on, or laugh at, serious issues such as poverty or drug problems. I believe your situations are real, your pain is real. I’m not here to ridicule or dismiss you. But as a person who came from heartland America, I also believe that there is another way than directing your anger at those who often have less power than you. Don’t let your discontent or your patriotism be exploited. Don’t look down, look up.”

She also says that track was inspired in part by Shane Meadows’ 2006 movie This Is England.

“I actually wrote this song about 3 years ago. It was partially inspired by people I’ve known in the the past and also the British film This Is England, which most people in the UK are familiar with but hardly any Americans have seen.

“In the movie a group of non-racist UK skinheads in the 80s are radicalised through prison, poverty, and needless war. The results are violent and tragic. When I watched it I felt like I recognised a glimmer of their hopelessness and confusion in parts of America, but I had no clue how much that would explode in 2017.”

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